Tracking management of Oracle Database options

FlexNet Manager Suite version 2018 R2

Since Oracle options may be managed either locally on the database instance where they are running, or remotely using Oracle Enterprise Manager (OEM), it can sometimes be difficult to understand why an Oracle option is shown as licensable on a particular database instance. New properties for database instances now make this easier to track:

• In the General tab of the properties for each database instance, the Managing OEM property reports which installation of Oracle Enterprise Manager most recently claims management of the database instance.
• In the Options tab of the same properties, the Used column shows which Oracle options are licensable on this database instance, and the new Enabled by column shows whether each option was enabled locally on This instance, or remotely by Oracle Enterprise Manager, meaning the installation identified on the General tab.

These new insights don't require any special configuration. It works for all methods of collecting FlexNet inventory for Oracle databases and instances, and only requires that the database instance used as a management repository by Oracle Enterprise Manager is among the database instances from which FlexNet inventory is collected.

Tip: If you use Oracle Database 12c or later, the OEM repository may be saved in a pluggable database instance. In this case, to support inventory from pluggable database instances, you need version 13.0.1 of the FlexNet inventory agent (distributed with FlexNet Manager Suite 2018 R1 hotfix 02) or later.

Logging for the FlexNet inventory agent locally installed on the Oracle server has also been enriched to include details of options discovered on each database instance. This may assist with troubleshooting your Oracle options.

Additional information

With the improved logging, for example, a database instance may produce a log entry like this:

[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |   AdvancedCompression_ByTableCompression: Installed = 1, Used = 0

This entry shows that the option is available for the database instance, but is not in use on this instance. In fact, this is one of several queries that test for use of the Advanced Compression option, such as:

• AdvancedCompression_ByTableCompression
• AdvancedCompression_BySecureFilesCompressionAndDeDuplication
• AdvancedCompression_ByLogArchiveCompression
• AdvancedCompression_ByFeatureDataGuard.

If Used gives a non-zero result in any of these queries, the option is considered used (and often licensable) on the database instance. This allows you to dig deep and identify the Oracle query that defines the usage.

Furthermore, if it happens that the current database instance is also the repository for an installation of Oracle Enterprise Manager, the log for each query is extended with the Oracle server name and the database instance name for each managed database instance:

[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |   LifecycleManagementPack_ByOEMMgmtTargets:
[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |      server1.example.com/orcl11g2: Installed = 1, Used = 1
[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |      server1.example.com/orcl11g: Installed = 1, Used = 1
[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |      server2.example.com/orcloem: Installed = 1, Used = 1
[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |      server3.example.com/orcl12db: Installed = 1, Used = 1
[dateTime (G, 0)] {25332} |      server1.example.com/orclstd: Installed = 1, Used = 1

If any of these queries fails to return any result, there are two possible outcomes in the log file:

• Table or view does not exist
• No result for all other failure scenarios.

If you are already familiar with the OEM adapter, be aware that there is no relationship between it and any of the above new functionality. Specifically, the OEM adapter is merely a discovery tool. This functionality relies on direct inventory gathering from database inventories, including the one(s) that serve as OEM repositories. To understand the differences, see the new topic Interaction with Oracle Enterprise Manager in the Oracle Discovery and Inventory chapter of the FlexNet Manager Suite System Reference PDF.

Advanced considerations apply if customers have more complicated implementations of OEM:

• If they have separated the OEM console onto a different server than the OEM repository, the identification available in the Managing OEM property is the database server, and not the console server.
• If they have multiple OEM installations that may remotely manage the same target database instance, the Managing OEM property always reveals the OEM repository from which inventory was most recently imported.

Read more details in the online help pages for Oracle database instance properties, and in the FlexNet Manager Suite System Reference PDF.